SUMMER RESEARCH WORKSHOPS FOR SCHOLARS
Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies invites applications from Workshop Coordinator(s) who wish to conduct two-week research workshops at the Museum during the summer of 2012.
Established in 1999, the Center’s Summer Research Workshops provide an environment in which groups of scholars working in closely related areas of study—but with limited previous face-to-face interaction—can gather to discuss a central research question or issue; their research methodologies and findings; the major challenges facing their work; and potential future collaborative scholarly ventures.
The Center welcomes proposals from scholars in all relevant disciplines, including, though not limited to, history, political science, literature, Jewish studies, philosophy, religion, anthropology, comparative genocide studies, and law.
Workshops consist of two weeks of intensive discussion, culminating in a public presentation of the group’s results. Morning sessions typically consist of presentations by participants on their particular research projects. Afternoon sessions are predominantly dedicated to in-depth discussions of the overarching research issues, priorities, findings, and conclusions, as well as some workshop-based research using the Museum’s collections. The final public panel consists of presentations on (1) the importance of the work and the scholarly rationale for convening the workshop; (2) the issues discussed, approaches taken, and resources used by the group during the two weeks; (3) the issues and source materials identified by the group as the most significant for future work; and (4) the group’s collective results, findings, and conclusions.
Participants will have access to more than 60 million pages of Holocaust-related archival documentation; the Museum’s extensive library; oral history, film, photo, art, artifacts, and memoir collections; and Holocaust survivor database. In addition, participants have access to the digitized holdings of the International Tracing Service (ITS), which contains more than 100 million documents relating to approximately 17.5 million victims of Nazism who were subjected to arrest, deportation, murder, forced labor, slave labor, and displacement through the end of World War II and beyond. Many of these sources have not been examined by scholars, offering unprecedented opportunities to advance the field of Holocaust studies. A staff scholar from the Center with expertise relevant to the proposed topic will be assigned to each workshop. The Center will also provide meeting space and access to a computer, telephone, and photocopier.
For non-local participants, awards include (1) a stipend to offset the cost of direct travel to and from each participant’s home institution and Washington, DC; (2) lodging for the duration of the workshop; and (3) $500 toward the cost of incidental expenses, which will be distributed within two to four weeks of the workshop’s conclusion. Local participants will receive a stipend of $200 for the two weeks.
APPLICATION GUIDELINES
The Workshop Coordinator(s) assume(s) responsibility for assembling the application package, which must include:
1. An eight- to ten-page, double-spaced proposal describing your research project’s focus, significance, scope, methods, and objectives; its potential to contribute to and advance the field of Holocaust studies; the justification for assembling your proposed participants; any work you have already conducted on this project; and the rationale for convening the workshop at the Museum.
2. A list of six to ten potential workshop participants (including coordinators), roughly half of whom should be affiliated with North American institutions. Museum staff are not eligible. Geographic, disciplinary, and gender diversity is highly desirable. Only in exceptional circumstances may any one institution be represented by more than one scholar. Each group should contain a mix of doctoral candidates, junior scholars (within five years of obtaining their degrees), and tenured and senior scholars who have not had the opportunity to work closely with one another in the past.
3. A ranked list in order of preference of the following three two-week periods in which to hold the workshop: July 9 – 20, July 23 – August 3, August 6 – 17.
The proposals will be evaluated according to their (1) potential contribution to scholarship in Holocaust studies; (2) potential to stimulate work in a new direction or productive area of research; (3) relationship to larger themes or issues in Holocaust studies; (4) diversity and appropriateness of the proposed participants (e.g., institutions, countries of residence, areas of expertise, scholarly advancement, and gender); and (5) potential for new publications, collaborative research, or research endeavors directly resulting from the workshop. Applications for under six or over ten participants will not be considered. The selection committee may amend the roster of participants if the composition of the workshop is deemed insufficiently diverse.
Upon acceptance of your application, a Center scholar will work with the Workshop Coordinator(s) to finalize the dates and participants for the workshop. All participants must attend the entire workshop. Non-U.S. citizens will be responsible for obtaining any visas necessary to attend.
Applications must be postmarked or submitted electronically by January 27, 2012. Selections will be announced in writing by March 2, 2012.
Applications and questions regarding this program should be addressed to Krista Hegburg, Program Officer, University Programs, Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW, Washington, DC 20024-2126; tel: 202.488.0459; fax: 202.479.9726; e-mail:
khegburg@ushmm.org.
To learn more about past workshops, go to
ushmm.org/research/center/workshops.
